Utah Men's Tennis Picks Up Pair of Wins Saturday
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's tennis team returned to the George S. Eccles Tennis Center for a pair of matches Saturday where the Utes walked away with a 4-0 win over Utah State and a 5-0 win over Montana. The Utes improved to 10-4 overall this season and are 8-1 in Salt Lake City.
Utah 4, Utah State 0
The Utes began the day hosting in-state foe Utah State and completed a 4-0 victory in Salt Lake City. Utah's top duo of Franco Capalbo and Geronimo Espin Busleiman recorded the first doubles victory after being tied 3-3 and winning the next three games to take the set 6-3.
Mathias Gavelin and Slava Shainyan traded sets with their opponents on court two and were headed to a tiebreak, while Luis Flores and Bruno Krenn held a lead on court three. Gavelin and Shainyan had the tiebreaker tied at 5-5, but dropped the final two points. Flores and Krenn were able to close out the match on court three from an ace by Krenn at deuce to win the set 6-3.
Busleiman carried his momentum from doubles play into his singles match and cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Utah State's Acosta on court two to get the Utes started. Shortly after, Francisco Bastias as Utah's No. 4 singles in the match rolled past his opponent, winning 6-2, 6-1 to push the lead 3-0.
Utah had dropped first sets in three of the four remaining matches, but two forced a third, while the other was in a tight second set. Chris Heck picked up a first-set win, and after being down 5-1 in the second rallied back to tie the match 6-6, but ultimately fell in the tiebreaker to go to a third that was unfinished.
Utah's final point came from a win on court five by Krenn where he tallied 6-3, 6-1 wins in the second and third sets to complete the comeback after falling 3-6 in the first set. Shainyan led his third set, while Gavelin had tied up his second set before the match was called.
Utah 5, Montana 0
Utah saw multiple changes in lineups for the match against Montana and despite the changes, Utah got off to a quick start in doubles. Shainyan and Bastias teamed up for the second time this season and rolled past Montana's top duo, earning a 6-0 win. Busleiman and Heck then teamed up for the pair's first doubles match and took a quick 6-1 victory to earn the 1-0 lead for Utah.
Singles saw a shift in the lineup as well and saw Bastias, Krenn and Heck move up spots from the previous match, along with Flores seeing his first singles match as a Ute. After the Utes won five-of-six first sets against the Griz, Krenn got the ball rolling for Utah and earned the first point of the match on court four, winning 6-3, 6-1 over Montana's Benn. Busleiman trailed 3-5 in his first set, but after winning the next four games to take the set 7-5, he carried the momentum over and won 6-1 in the second for Utah's third point.
Ending simultaneously to clinch the match were Bastias on court three and Shainyan and court one. Bastias pulled out a 6-4 win in the first and left no doubt in the second as he claimed a 6-0 win over Chase Bartlett. Seconds after Bastias won, Shainyan ended his match in a close second set, topping the Grizzlies' top singles player Ed Pudney 7-5 in the second after rolling in the first set 6-1.
Utah will be begin a six-match road swing, which includes four next week in Southern California. Utah is scheduled to play Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, March 9 at 2 p.m. MT in Los Angeles before facing San Diego State on Wednesday, March 10 at 3 p.m. MT. Utah will then turn its attention to UCLA and USC to open Pac-12 play on Friday and Saturday, March 12-13.
####
Utah 4, Utah State 0
Singles competition (2,4,5)
1. Slava Shainyan (UTAH) vs. BUCUR, Sergiu (USU) 3-6, 6-1, 3-1, unfinished
2. Geronimo Busleiman (UTAH) def. ACOSTA, Felipe (USU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Mathias Gavelin (UTAH) vs. EL MESBAHI, Souf (USU) 4-6, 5-5, unfinished
4. Francisco Bastias (UTAH) def. SAVIN, Roko (USU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Bruno Krenn (UTAH) def. RUIZ, Javier (USU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
6. Chris Heck (UTAH) vs. HJALTE, Arvid (USU) 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), unfinished
Doubles competition (1,2,3)
1. Franco Capalbo/Geronimo Busleiman (UTAH) def. ACOSTA, Felipe/RUIZ, Javier (USU) 6-3
2. NINTEMAN, Jack/SAVIN, Roko (USU) def. Slava Shainyan/Mathias Gavelin (UTAH) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Luis Flores/Bruno Krenn (UTAH) def. BUCUR, Sergiu/EL MESBAHI, Souf (USU) 6-3
Utah 5, Montana 0
Singles competition (4,2,3,1)
1. Slava Shainyan (UTAH) def. PUDNEY, Ed (UM) 6-1, 7-5
2. Geronimo Busleiman (UTAH) def. SHAFFREY, Oisin (UM) 7-5, 6-1
3. Francisco Bastias (UTAH) def. BARTLETT, Chase (UM) 6-4, 6-0
4. Bruno Krenn (UTAH) def. BENN, Milo (UM) 6-3, 6-1
5. Chris Heck (UTAH) vs. HALLGREN, Pontus (UM) 1-6, 4-5, unfinished
6. Luis Flores (UTAH) vs. MARTIN, Guillermo (UM) 6-3, 4-6, unfinished
Doubles competition (1,3)
1. Francisco Bastias/Slava Shainyan (UTAH) def. BARTLETT, Chase/SHAFFREY, Oisin (UM) 6-0
2. Bruno Krenn/Luis Flores (UTAH) vs. BENN, Milo/PUDNEY, Ed (UM) 3-4, unfinished
3. Geronimo Busleiman/Chris Heck (UTAH) def. STOEGER, Moritz/MARTIN, Guillermo (UM) 6-1